1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to a pressurized fuel gel composition which is particularly suitable for igniting wood and charcoal.
The burning, or setting on fire, of a combustible material such as charcoal requires heating the material at or above its ignition point or kindling temperature until the combustion reaction starts and continues. This ordinarily is accomplished by placing the combustible material directly in contact with a flame until combustion starts. Usually, a fire starter product for igniting wood and charcoal is employed to produce the flame, which must be of sufficient duration of time to effect ignition. Since flame duration is dependent upon many factors, one being the wind which is difficult to control, effective fire starters are designed to provide a flame duration of at least about four minutes. If the flame duration is shorter, additional material and another ignition will normally be required.
In addition, to be effective as a fire starter it is important that the fuel gel be readily dispensed from the container and that it stay concentrated and set up in a mass on the material to be burned at the point where it is dispensed. For example, to ignite charcoal the charcoal generally is formed in a mound and the gel is dispensed into spaces in the mound which are called firepoints. These firepoints (normally four are sufficient) are burned and, upon burning for a certain length of time, the charcoal is ignited. The ability of the fuel gel to form a mass enables the fuel to form a concentrated burning point. However, it is important that the fuel gel remain in a shape retaining mass during the burning thereof and that it not melt or otherwise dissipate into a thin film of fuel which would burn much more rapidly and not ignite the charcoal unless relatively larger amounts were used.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well-known that a wide variety of products are currently sold for use as charcoal and wood fire starters. However, many of these products are subject to one or more significant disadvantages. For example, liquid type fuels tend to burn very rapidly and, therefore, many times do not provide fire ignition and require another application for ignition. This shortcoming of liquid fuels is due to their liquid form which does not normally adhere in sufficient amounts to the briquettes but instead flows off the sides thereof. Additionally, liquid fuels can be dangerous because of the problem of flame flashback wherein the dispensing stream of liquid becomes ignited causing the liquid in the dispensing container to ignite.
Another commercial fire starter product is an impregnated solid which requires a physical breaking and distribution thereof. Such steps are time consuming, and often result in the soiling of the hands or clothes of the user, thereby causing consumer dissatisfaction.
Gel hydrocarbon based fire starter products have also been used, but these are characterized by burning with an odor and producing a relatively large amount of soot. Additionally, these gel products tend to melt upon burning and do not maintain their dispensed shape but instead tend to flow over the charcoal briquettes forming a thin film of gelled material analagous to the liquid fuels. This characteristic shortens the product burning time and relatively large amounts of the gel must be used to effect ignition of the charcoal. These products are commercially available in a squeeze can and have been known for use in aerosol dispensers with nonflammable propellants. Further, the hydrocarbon base aerosol fuel gel products appear to require that the nonflammable propellant be allowed to vaporize before the gel can be ignited. Accordingly, these shortcomings of the hydrocarbon gel products have severely limited consumer acceptance.
Alcohol fuel gel products are known for commercial applications and such products burn with a clean, non-sooty flame. Such products are available in the form of individual cubes and in the form of a paste gel which is dispensed from a squeeze tube. However, while these alcohol gel products overcome many of the disadvantages of other known fire starters, such products still have deficiencies which appear to have limited consumer use and acceptance. For example, the product in cube form is expensive because it is more costly to manufacture in that form and requires additional time to dispense. The paste gel in the squeeze tube obviates the time consuming dispensing problem, but is subject to the flame flashback problem characteristic of the liquid fire starters discussed above. Thus, a need still exists for a fire starter product which is effective, clean burning and safe and convenient to use.